In a previous blog, we considered the basics of becoming an appointee, providing an overview of the role and initial limitations.
Since then, a guest blog by Alex Cisneros was included in Essex 39’s Compendium Mental Capacity report for December 2025, which dug deeper into the practical process. Cisneros’ report is a very interesting read, and brings to light some of the implied difficulties and concerns.
Read More »Issues with Appointeeships
The Mental Capacity Act (2005) upholds a person’s rights to autonomy, providing five core principles that drives these values in practice. It directs that Mental Capacity is decision and time specific, that all decisions should be appropriately supported, and respecting their right to make what others might call an ‘unwise decision’. Examples of a specific decision might be choice of residence, contact with a set person(s), a decision over treatment, conducting legal proceedings, managing property and finances etc.
Read More »Mental Capacity and the ‘White Leopard’
While the Mental Capacity Act (2005) is a statutory piece of legislation, that is actively required within the healthcare setting, it is not a part of ‘mandatory’ training that health and care professionals are required to undertake. This is one of the many reasons why the application of the Mental Capacity Act is so inconsistent between different care homes and between different healthcare providers.
Read More »Mental Capacity training in care homes
The Mental Capacity Act (2005) has five core principles that establish the guiding values of the legislation that it lays out. Principle #1 is the presumption of capacity – that a person’s decision-making for a specific matter at a specific time is assumed, and that the person themselves has ‘nothing to prove’.
Read More »Displacing the presumption of capacity
In February 2025, an important appeal case was heard before Mrs Justice Theis regarding the capacity of an individual, known as CT. The case is instructive as it includes a number of important observations, as well as a list of recommendations that we might use as a ‘checklist’ for assessments.
Read More »Insights from case law: A checklist for Mental Capacity Assessments
When assessing mental capacity, it is vital that the assessor is aware of any persons who may have an impact on the individual’s decision-making.
Read More »Mental Capacity Assessments: How to avoid undue influence
The Law Commission for England and Wales has published its report on Modernising Wills, with the purpose of updating the legislation of the Wills Act (1837).
Read More »Law Commission Report: Modernising Wills
The Mental Capacity Act (2005) includes a list of excluded decisions, which cannot be made on behalf of another individual or in their ‘best interest’. These exclusions are outlined in section 27:
Read More »Mental Capacity Act (2005): Excluded decisions
In Mental Capacity case law, we often encounter judgements that warn us against the ‘protection imperative’ or adopting a ‘paternalistic approach’ when it comes to supporting vulnerable people. But what do these phrases really mean?
In this blog, we look at the broad definitions of the protection imperative and the paternalistic approach, providing examples of cases that explain these terms in context, and how they apply to professional practice.
Read More »What is the protection imperative, and how does it relate to Mental Capacity?
There are many fantastic resources available to support capacity, provide valuable learning resources and updates for practice. Since we published our last blog on this… Read More »Free resources: Supporting Mental Capacity in practice